Railway-track crossing



B. G. VAN DYKE, JR. RAILWAY TRACK CROSSING.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 3, I919- I 1,354,080. 4 PatentedSept. 28, 1920.

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a e n a o 5 73L FLL t Z5- Z7 Z9 WITNESSES l/VVE/VTOR 'b- M BQYgh mZ ILGTVZI/n/D ZJQJZ 0 /zz 6&3? ATTORNEYS B. G. VAN DYKE, JR. RAILWAY TRACK caossme.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 13, 1919- 3 \SHEETSSHEET 2. 4

WIT NESSES A TTORNEYS B. G. VAN DYKE, JR. RAILWAY TRACK CROSSING.

- APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 13. 1919. 1,354,080. Patented Sept. 28,1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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A TTOH/VEYS 4-407 Fig. 2., 7 Figs. 5, 6 and ent parts of the crossing shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. I

BENJAMIN G. van nYKE, m, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

RAILWAY-TRACK cnossme.

Specification of Letters Iatent- Patented Sept. 28, 1920.

Application filed September 13, 1919. Serial No. 323,527.

they provide gaps to form a clearance for the wheel-fianges of a car, and another extreme posltlon in which they provlde an unbroken rail surface for the passage of a wheel thereover without the incident jars and bumps whlch occur in crossmgs of the ordinary construction.

It is also an object of my invention to provide simple and efiicient means for actuating the rail sections, and for securely locking the same in active position.

I will describe one form of railway track crossing embodying my invention, and will then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a View showing in top plan one form of track crossing embodying my invention in which two pairs of intersecting tracks are shown.

'Fig. 2 is an enlarged showing a portion of the crossing shown in Fig. 1-.

Fig. 3 is 'a sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2. I

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken'on line 7 are detail views of differ- Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail view of one of 'i-the sets of track sections.

Similar reference characters refer to 811111181 parts meach' ofthe several vlews.

Referring specifically to the drawings and particularly to 1, I have here fragmentary view P comprise stationary rail sections S and movable rail sections S, S and? S As illustrated to advantage in Figs. 2 and 6 all of'the rail sections are held in position upon plate P by means of bars B which are secured in pairs to the plate by bolts 17. v

As shown in Fig. 6 the underside of the bars B are curved in such a manner that each pair co-act withthe plate P to pro- 'vide a T-shaped slot for receiving the base of the 'rails'R and R. The'size of the slot provided by the bars B is'such that the rails have a sliding fit therein. However, the rail sections S are locked against movement within'the bars B by means of angle plates 18 which are secured at the intersection of adjacent rails, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The movable rails S and S are free to slide longitudinally between the bars B for a purpose which will be hereinafter described.-

The'movable rail sections S and S have their confrontingends beveled or inclined in opposite directions as at 19 while the opposite ends of the rail section S -are also beveled or inclined in opposite directions 'as at 20. The section S is mounted for lateral movement with respect to rail tions S and S and to this end I provide angle bars 21 which are secured to the plate P in manner to provide a T-shaped slot 'to slidably receive a shank 22 extending latpivotally connected to one end of the links 25 and 26. At the junction of the arms of each bell crank lever, each lever is fulcrumed as at 27 to swing about this point as a center.

From this arrangement it will be seen that when the section S is moved between; the sections 1 2 and S from the position shown in Fig. 8. the levers 23 and 24 and "links -25 and 26 will move the sections S and S" longitudinally in opposite directions so as to provideemple space. between the confronting ends thereof to receive the section S". It will be understood that when the section S is moving-- into position between the sections S and S the surfaces 19 and 2Qcontactwith eachother and as,

' sist in moving the Sections S and S apart.

When the section S is retracted from between the sections S and S it is obvious that because'of the bell crank levers, the sections S and S will again occupy the 'pgsition shown 1n Fig. 2.

From the foregoing operation, it will be manifest that the sections S and S are capable of occupyingtwo extreme positions,

one in which the'outer ends are spaced from the sides .of" adjacent intersecting rails,

which position I term theinactive position, and another extreme position in whlch the outer ends lie contiguous to the ends of adjacent stationary rail sections S, and which position I term the active position. WVhen the sectionsS and S are in the active pog sition, a, substantially uninterrupted jsuruninterrupted passage of a wheel thereover,

. 'of my invention. 40

trackT, Fig. 1 arenow inactive position, that is, a positlon 1n which'thelmovable ra l. 7 SGOtIOHS' assume active pos1t ons, and' when face isi rovided on a rail for allowing the for the wheel flanges of a cartraversing the rails of the intersecting tracks. 7

V In order that the several sets of movable rail sections may be operated to active and inactive positions according" as the train or car is traversing one track or the other, I provide an operating 'mechanism which. I

"will now describe, although, it is to be understood that any suitable m'echanism'may be provided to accomplish the same end without departing from the'spirit and scope I shown in Fi 1, theshanks'QQ of the two track sections S of any one rail R or R are pivotally connected asat 28 to the opposite ends of a beam 29, which extends through suitable; openings formed in the rails. Each beam 29 is adapted to be moved laterally in; one direction or the other" to move the movable rail sections into active orinactive positions according asit occupies one position or the other. From this operation, it will be seen that the beams 29 for actuating the movable tracksections of 'the rails of any one track are adapted to be moved in opposite directions with respect to each other in order to move the rail sections from one extreme position to the other. For example, the beams 29 of the upper it 'is "desiredto movethese rail sections to inactive position to allow for the passage of I 'a car iover the 'rails of the tracks T, the beams 29 are moved away from the adjacent rails R and R of the track V p In order to actuate each pair ofbeams 29 to, effect a movement of the rail sections to active or inactive pos tion according as the car istraversing the tracks T or T, I provide a shaft 30 which is formed at one of its ends with arms 31 and 32 connected to sectional rods H and H respectively, as is clearly shown in Fig. 3. The rod H is pivotally connected to the intermediate portion of the beams 29 and 29* while, the rod H is connected to the beams 29 and 29.

The shaft 30 is adapted to be partially rotated in one direction or the other from an intermediate position by means of a lever 33, which as shown in Fig. 7 carries a pawl 34 and actuating means therefor for moving the same into and out of engagement with a rack The rack 35is supported independently of-the shaft 30 while the lever 33 is rigidly connected thereto and is adapted to be locked in any adjusted position by means of the pawl 34 engaging the rack As shown'i'n Fig. 1, the several sets or movable rail sections which are actuated by the beams 29 to 29 inclusive, are in inactive position. When it is desired to move all of these sect-ions into active position, the shaft 30 is rocked by the lever 33 to move the rod H to the right and the rod H tothe left as when viewed in Fig. 3; During this movement, the beams 29 and 29* are moved to the right, as" viewed in Figql causing the rail sections to occupy active position, while the beams 29 and'29 carried the rod H have been moved in the opposite'direction to move their respective rail sections into active position. It will be understood that when the shaft 33 is rocked in the opposite direction, the rods H and H will be actuated to cause their respective rail sections to'occupy inactive positions. From this arrangement 'it will be seen that when the rail sections occupy one extreme position or the other the movable rail sections S and S of all the rails oi tracks T will be moved to active or inactive positions.

The mechanism for actuatingthe beams for the movable rail sections'of the tracks T is identical to the mechanism just'described in so far as the rods H and H are concerned. However, the rods H and H are actuated by means of a shaft 30 which is connected to the rods H andH intermediate their ends. "The shaft 30 is adapted to be actuated bymeans of a rod H which is connected to one end of the shaftby an arm 36, as shown in Fig. 4. The opposite end of the shaft30 is connect-edto an arm '37*(Fig. 1) formed on a stub axle 38 The axle 38' carries a lever 33* which can be locked in any position by meansofa pawl and ratchet, as has been'described in connection with" the lever 33. By means of position or the other and thereby efi'ect the movement of the movable rail sections for the rails or tracks T to active or inactive position.

Although, I have herein shown and described only one form of track crossing embodying my invention, and one form of mechanism for actuating the movable rail sections thereof, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made herein. without departing from the spirit of the invention and the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a track crossing, a pair of intersect ing tracks, the rails of each of said tracks comprising movable sections and stationary sections, said movable sections being arranged in pairs and movable longitudinally of the rails and capable of occupying active and inactive positions, a third movable section for each pair of sections, all the third movable sections being disposed upon the outer sides of said rails and adapted to be interposed between the pair of movable sections when the latter are in active position, and withdrawn from the same when they are in inactive position, and mechanism arranged upon the outer sides of said rails for moving all of the movable sections of the rails of one pair of tracks into active or inactive position, said means comprising beams disposed upon the outer sides of the rails and parallel thereto, the beams for each track being movable laterally in opposite directions, and levers operatively connecting said beams and sections.

2. In a track crossing, a pair of intersecting tracks, the rails of each of saidtracks comprising movable sections and stationary sections, said movable sections being arranged in pairs and movable longitudinally of the rails and capable of occupying active and inactive positions, a third movable section for each pair of sections, all the third movable sections being disposed upon outer sides of said rails and adapted to be interposed between the pair of movable sections when the latter are in active position, and withdrawn from the same when they are in inactive position, and mechanism arranged upon the outer sides of said rails for moving all of the movable sections of the rails of one pair of tracks into active or inactive position, said means comprising beams disposed upon the outer sides of the rails and parallel thereto, the beams for each track being movable laterally in opposite directions, and levers operatively connecting said beams and sections, pairs of superposed rods mounted for reciprocating movement and connected to said beams, and oscillatory means for actuating the rods of each pair in opposite directions.

3. In combination, a pair of track rails comprising movable sections and stationary sections, said movable sections being arranged in pairs and movable longitudinally of the rails and capable of occupying active and inactive positions, a third movable section for each pair of sections, all the third movable sections being disposed upon the outer sides of said rails and adapted to be interposed between a pair of movable sections when the latter are in active position, and withdrawn from the same when they are in inactive position, and mechanism arranged upon the outer sides of said rails for moving all of the movable sections of one rail or the other into active or inactive position, said means comprising beams disposed upon the outer sides of the rails and parallel thereto and movable in opposite directions, levers operatively connecting. said beams and sections, and superposed rods mounted for reciprocating movement and connected to said beams.

BENJAMIN G. VAN DYKE, JR 

